Amateur Gardening – 21 May 2019

11 MAY 2019AMATEUR GARDENING 51

Q

Oursmallpondis overgrownwith

plants,andhasfilledupwithleaves

andsilt.Howcanwebestclearit tomake

surethereis stilla depthof waterwithout

disturbingthecreatures living there? We

don’thaveanyfish.

KarenPilkington, Windermere,

Cumbria

A

Depthof wateris nece

bothforaquaticlifean

forcreaturesthatrelyon

thepondfordrinkingand

bathing,soif yoursis in

dangerof fillingupand

dryingout,youare right

totakeaction.

However,it is many

yearssinceI cleanedout

a pondbyremoving

everything,drainingwater,

diggingoutsludge,refillingand

replacing plants. There is so much life in

oursmallpondyear-round,I wouldfeel

awfulaboutdisplacingit andprefer to

tackleonesectionat a time.

Thefirststepis toscoopouta handful

ortwoof leavesandsilttoseewhatis

livingthere.Dipa netthroughthewater

aswell.Newtsareoftenfoundjustunder

duckweedat thesurface.Dependingon

thesizeof thepond,youneedtogently

d d erhapsa thirdat a time,

ngdebrisat theedge

orecompostingit, so

eaturescancrawlbackin.

Theaimis openwater,

witha shallowlayerof silt

andleavesat thebottom

o makea habitat,and

hallowsat theedgefor

cess.Puta notein your

y totidythepondagain

ummerandtonetit

towardstheendof September, to

stop the leaves from falling in.

All photography John Swithinbank / TI Media, unless otherwise credited

When’s best for cleaning

THEREis nogoodtimetodisturba pond,although

somesayautumnis best.In spring,newts,frogs

andtoadsarebreeding,sotherecouldbespawn,

tadpolesandnewtlets.Somenewtswill stay in

thewateruntilthefollowingyear.

Thelarvaeornymphsof dragonfliesmight

hatchthissummerorremainin thepondfor

several years, depending on the species.

1

Nettingduckweedis a routine

butimportantjobtoprevent

over-shadingthewater.Evaluate

theplantlife,aimingfora good

balanceofsubmerged,floating-

leaved and marginal plants.

Essential

pond care

4

Haulchunksofirisoutuntilyou

canaccesstheoriginalbasket.

LinewithfreshHessian,replanta

smallclumpin gardensoil,topwith

gravel or shingle, and replace.

2

Netordredgegently,looking

allthetimesoasnottodamage

creaturessuchasthislittlenewtlet.

Releaseanythatyoufindinto

undisturbed areas of the pond.

3

Overgrownaquaticslikethis

wateririsneedattentionbefore

theyswampandfilla pond.Unable

toliftthelargemass,I’mcuttingthe

plant into sections for removal.

Marginalaquaticiris

(Irislaevigata)

‘Colchesterensis’

Anne’s

tips

Anne Swithinbank’s masterclass on: pond care

Nymphaea‘Pygmaea

Helvola’is a striking

aquatic perennial

Beforedredgingour

smallpond,I liketosee

whatis livingthere.My

firsthandfulrevealed

plenty of water lice!

Frogsarebreeding

in spring

Cleanedpondwith

shallowsatthe

edge for access

Rainwateris bestfor

toppingupa pondduring

droughts.Althoughtap

wateris betterthannothing,

it’sgenerallyhigherin

nitratesandaptto

encourageduckweed

and blanket weed.

Alamy

Alamy

Alamy